CBS Local — An Alabama sixth-grader’s heartwarming gift to her teacher has gained national attention after the girl’s gesture was posted on Facebook.

Price Lawrence, a first-year teacher at Highlands Elementary in Huntsville, lost his father-in-law in mid-February and was reportedly worried about how the death would affect his wife. According to WHNT, Lawrence revealed the tragic incident to his students after the class noticed the new teacher wasn’t himself lately.

As Mr. Lawrence exchanged high fives with the students while they left for their next class, the teacher was handed a note and some change by the thoughtful student.

“This is for your wife. I know it was real expensive when my daddy died and I don’t really want ice cream today anyways,” Lawrence says his pupil told him in a post which displayed three quarters and a handwritten letter.

The sixth-grader’s gift has already been shared on Facebook over 231,000 times and received 534,000 likes since being posted on Feb. 20. Social media users joined the teacher in praising the compassionate spirit of his student as 26,000 comments have flooded into Lawrence’s page.